


Ice Skating

by Emily_F6



Series: Febuwhump 2020 [5]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Febufluff 2020, Gen, Irondad, Tony Stark Acting as Peter Parker's Parental Figure, febuwhump 2020, spiderson
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-15
Updated: 2020-03-15
Packaged: 2021-03-01 03:41:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,175
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23158708
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Emily_F6/pseuds/Emily_F6
Summary: Tony asks Peter to teach him how to ice skate.
Relationships: Peter Parker & Tony Stark
Series: Febuwhump 2020 [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1664710
Comments: 2
Kudos: 117





	Ice Skating

Tony pulled his baseball cap further down over his face, following Rhodey as the two made their way down the busy street. They'd built a skating rink in the middle of the city, and apparently everyone wanted to skate on it. All Tony wanted to do was finish up his Christmas shopping. Online preferably. But Rhodey had insisted on dragging him out for what reason, Tony didn't know. Still, the man had been persistent, and so Tony was walking down a city street in New York at six o'clock in the evening for no apparent reason.

"Rhodey, buddy, pal, platypus...could you just tell me what the hell we're doing here?"

His friend ignored him, moving purposefully toward the skating rink and Tony groaned, throwing his head back and fighting the urge to stomp his feet like a toddler. He'd do anything for his best friend, but he really hated New York excursions that served no apparent purpose. And he especially hated them this close to Christmas when the streets were full of tourists and shoppers.

Rhodey had basically dragged him out of his lab that morning, telling him that he needed to show him something and that they needed to go. Now. And so Tony had gotten up and followed him dutifully out onto the streets. That had been fifteen minutes ago and they were still walking. "Rhodes?"

"We're almost there."

"We'd better not be going ice skating. You know I can't ice skate!"

Rhodey snorted, jerking his head for Tony to catch up, and once he did, he saw that they were indeed heading for the ice rink. "Shut up. I have to show you something." And once they reached the crowded edge of the rink, Rhodey stopped so abruptly that Tony nearly slammed into him.

"The hell…" He grumbled, then glared at Rhodey. "What, an ice rink? I've seen an ice rink before."

"Not the ice rink, genius." His friend rolled his eyes. "Look. Right across from us."

Tony sighed, crossing his arms, but he did as he was bid, looking across the ice rink to scan the faces, only to come to an abrupt halt when he spotted a familiar face. "Peter?" He asked, eyebrows raised. The boy leaned against the railing, watching everyone skate without seeming to take any of it in. Even from across the rink, Tony could see the dark circles under the boy's eyes, and the way he slumped, looking exhausted. He turned back to Rhodey who was watching him, eyebrows lifted. "Why is Peter here?" He asked, as if Rhodey would know.

"He's been here the last two days." At Tony's raised eyebrow, Rhodey went on. "I was on a walk two days ago and spotted him. Same thing yesterday."

"Maybe he's just skating." Tony couldn't quite believe that himself. It wasn't that Peter didn't have a life of his own with friends and his aunt. Tony knee the kid had a whole part of his life that Tony wasn't a part of. But...this was different.

"He's never with any of his friends and he never skates."

Tony frowned at that, turning back to look at the boy who usually would have noticed him looking at that point. But he didn't lift his eyes. Just stared at the skaters with glazed, unfocused eyes. Tony shook his head, turning back to Rhodey. "Why didn't you talk to him?"

"Because I figured this was a problem for his dad."

Tony sputtered, eyes going wide as he turned to his friend in disbelief. "I'm not his…" Tony started, but Rhodey only rolled his eyes, waving a hand to cut him off.

"Yeah, whatever. Just go talk to your kid."

Before he could retort, Rhodey was gone, Tony left staring after him. He was not Peter's dad! The kid was...he was his mentee. And, yeah, Tony had him over every week or so and he'd taught him how to tie a tie for real, not just using a youtube video. And he'd checked him out of school once when he'd been feeling bad and…

Shit.

Tony shook the thought off and began making his way around the rink, slipping past the crowds of people who paid him no attention. As he got closer, he waited for Peter to turn and look at him, to smile...to wave or something. But Peter just kept staring at the ice, not moving. Not paying any mind to the people pushing past him or bumping into him. It wasn't until Tony was standing right beside him, placing a hand on his shoulder, that the boy looked up, eyes wide in surprise. For just a moment, Peter flinched away from him, but then he blinked, and a slow, confused smile lit up his face.

"Hi, Mr. Stark. What are you doing here?"

Tony thought about asking him the same thing, but figured that the boy probably didn't want to talk about it. If he had, he probably would have already. Instead, Tony did his best to think on his feet. "Oh, I was out stretching my legs when I spotted a familiar kid." He reached out, ruffling Peter's hair, and Peter ducked away, grinning and waving him away. Figuring he'd go for the indirect route, he gestured toward the ice rink. "You waiting for Ted?"

The joke of Tony not knowing his friend's name never failed to make the boy at least smile, especially considering the fact that Ned had joined Peter in Tony's lab the week before. This time, though, Peter's smile was sad and weak, distracted in a way it usually wasn't. Peter shook his head.

"No, uh...just doing some Christmas shopping."

Tony decided to ignore the obvious lie and put his arm around his shoulders. "Wanna take a break and get some hot chocolate with me?"

Peter perked up a little at that, and the two headed for the a little restaurant only a few yards away, Tony ordering them both hot chocolates with extra whip and no chocolate drizzle, just the way Peter liked it, then led the kid over to a booth.

Once they were sipping their drinks, with Peter pausing to eat all the whipped cream first, Tony decided to approach the subject gently. Not directly, like he usually approached things, he thought as he savored the sight of Peter closing his eyes and enjoying the hot drink. He would be careful. Something was bothering his kid...the kid...and he needed to find out what it was and see if he could help. But he also didn't want to spook him. Tony would have to be really careful…

"My uncle and I used to go skating around Christmas." The words startled Tony so much that he nearly dropped his cup. Peter wasn't looking at him, though. He was staring into his own cup, eyes far away and sad. "It was our tradition. We'd get up early and...he had his own skates, and he got me a pair too. And we'd skate all day. Sometimes we'd go to Central Park and skate, or when they'd make a rink here, we'd come and eat breakfast first." Peter shrugged as if embarrassed, still refusing to meet Tony's eyes. "I just miss him."

The boy said it as if it was something to be ashamed of. Like it was something Tony would judge him for. And for a moment, Tony felt frozen in place. Thankfully, though, he now had plenty of practice talking to the kid. They'd talked and comforted one another and laughed together and sang together so many times over the last few months. So he reached out, placing his and on Peter's forearm and squeezing gently. "I know you do. I'm sorry, bud."

Peter gave him a strained smile, then dropped his eyes again.

Not enough, Tony thought. He had to do more more. Had to do something to cheer his kid up. So, steeling himself, he took a deep breath. "You know, I don't even know how to ice skate."

Peter's head snapped up, eyes wide in surprise. "Really?"

"Yeah. My mom never took me, Jarvis couldn't skate either, and god knows my dad would never be seen trying it."

"Oh." Peter blinked, eyebrows furrowing in a concern that made Tony's heart warm. It was only a moment before the boy came to the inevitable conclusion. "I could teach you!"

"Really?" Tony forced himself to look interested, trying to push the dread down. "I mean, I don't want to hijack your day, kid."

"No, I don't really have any plans." The boy smiled then, excited. "We can rent some skates at the rink and I can show you!"

And, resigning himself to his fate, Tony nodded. "Okay. Sounds great."

It was not great.

In a pair of rented skates that Tony prayed wouldn't give him some random terrible New York disease, he was forced to grip Peter's hands so tightly that, had the boy not been enhanced, he would have worried about hurting him. Peter, in his own pair of rented skates, glided slowly backwards, one foot moving, then another, so easily it seemed impossible that Tony could have so much trouble.

"Don't look at your feet." Peter urged, his hands strong around Tony's. Obligingly, Tony lifted his head from his skates which were inching forward in such tiny intervals that if it hadn't been for Peter, he wouldn't be moving at all. The kid's face was open and kind, and he gave Tony a patient smile. "If you look at your feet, you'll lean too far forward and fall."

"Definitely don't want to do that."

Peter laughed. "You probably will. I fell all the time when I was first learning." He move them easily out of the way of a little girl who skated by so quickly she was mostly a blur to Tony who didn't dare turn his head to watch her. The rink was full of little kids gliding around, slipping and falling, then pushing themselves back to their feet to do it all again. Tony worried that if he fell, he wouldn't be able to get himself back up.

After a little while, Peter started to pull back, lengthening his arms and giving Tony a little more space as he continued to skate backwards. Tony had thought that the kid would have rather been skating on his own, flying around the rink with the other kids. Instead, Peter seemed perfectly content with him. When one of Tony's skates would start to slip, Peter's grip would get stronger, steadying him easily. He never made a comment about how Tony would cling to him then, fingers digging into his skin. The kid just gave him that same patient smile and helped him move around the outside of the rink with all the little kids just learning.

"I guess I suck at this, huh kid?" Tony asked, resigning himself to it, but Peter shook his head, face totally serious.

"No you don't. You just don't know how to do it." Peter hesitated, then went on without looking at him, eyes focused on something just past Tony. "Ben always said that when you're first learning something, you have to pretend you're like a toddler learning to walk. It feels impossible, but that doesn't stop a little kid. They keep trying until they get it, and they don't feel bad about falling down." He flushed a little, then grinned, meeting Tony's eyes again. "You should have seen me when I first started making my own webs and swinging around. They kept breaking at first, and I fell all the time."

This story made Tony feel more concern than comfort, but he squeezed Peter's hand, trying to brush past the questions about how high up Peter had been when he'd fallen and if he'd broken anything that might not have set properly. The kid was fine, Tony reminded himself. More than that, the kid was kind. One of the kindest, gentlest people Tony had ever met.

"You're a good kid, Pete." Tony said suddenly, forcing the words out despite how heavy they felt...how serious and emotional. "A great kid. And you're going to be a great man. Your uncle would be so proud of you. Hell, kid, I'm so proud of you."

The boy stared at him for a moment, eyes wide as they moved slowly on the ice. He seemed stunned, mouth partially open, eyes goes from Tony's face to the ground, cheeks turning faintly red. Tony just smiled, carefully pulling one hand out of Peter's and putting it on his shoulder, risking his own balance with the motion. But Peter automatically moved to help steady him. The boy opened his mouth, then closed it, finally whispering a shy 'thank you' and Tony smiled, squeezing his shoulder.

"Alright, buddy. When are you going to teach me one of those fancy jumps?"

Peter gave a surprised laugh, squeezing Tony's hand and shaking his head. "Let's just try and make it once around the rink first."


End file.
